08/09/2018 / Last updated : 07/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Mt. Iwaki and Jogakura Ohashi, Autumn leaves and orchards　岩木山

Day 41, October 2016, Ashino Koen(park) Wake to a beautiful morning in Ashino Koen(park). The truck gent has moved his parking spot for no obvious reason but the tent dispenses a youngish, obviously, homeless man who coughs and spits. Not the best of neighbors. We have forgotten to get bread so have no breakfast and have a spot of panic as I think I have lost my wallet but find it on the floor of the car. We go for a walk across the (apparently) famous bridges. The first, is a floating bridge which is passable but is in a distressing state. What repairs have been carried out are very […]

26/07/2018 / Last updated : 06/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Osorezan, communing with the dead　恐山

Day 39, October 2016, Yagen Valley　薬研渓谷 We wake to a fine day and breakfast in the early morning sunshine. Before visiting Osorezan, our plan is to walk along a small, nearby river, so we drive a little further up the valley. The footpath, we discover, is in the pine trees and very gloomy. It runs along an old, narrow gauge railway line, now barely visible and the river can hardly be glimpsed at all through the undergrowth, so the prospect for the walk is not encouraging. In the end, we walk back along the road – there are almost no cars – and take lots of useless pictures of the […]

25/07/2018 / Last updated : 06/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Hotokegaura, white ant hill　仏ヶ浦

Day 38, October 2016, Oma, Aomori　　大間 After arriving in Ooma Shimokita peninsula in Aomori by ferry from Hakodate, drive through narrow streets out to the point where everything is Maguro(tuna). We park and wander around the usual shops selling junk and fishy things. A tentacle stall catches my eye, before we find the point itself. Here people are taking pictures and the couple from Osaka are there entering into the spirit of the thing more than D. and I are able. They give D. a name card and we learn they run an izakaya in Sakai city in Osaka. Hotokegaura To find a supermarket, to get some lunch, we wind through […]

07/06/2018 / Last updated : 19/03/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Cycling Onuma park　大沼公園

Day 36, October 2016, A warm, sunny morning and we enjoy breakfast outside, more comfortably than last night’s dinner. Packed, we drive to Hakodate and D. buys warm socks in Shimamura. (A cheap clothing chain that, we discover, has a major presence throughout the Japanese archipelago. Well, I can’t vouch for Okinawa but I wouldn’t bet against it.) Cycling Lake Onuma Thus equipped, we head back to Lake Onuma and rent bicycles. After dropping into 7/11 to buy onigiri for lunch we set off cycling. A short distance later, in Onuma Park, we are obliged to ditch our bikes so recently acquired, as they are not allowed. Consequently, we walk […]

04/05/2018 / Last updated : 05/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Mikuni Pass to Higashi-Daisetsu　三国峠から東大雪

Day 27, October 2016, Mikuni Pass We emerge into a windy but dry morning and decide to return to Sounkyo gorge to check the autumn colours. The day is fine but the closer we get to the mountains the more the weather deteriorates. It is very windy with frequent heavy showers. Numerous rainbows prop up the clouds for kilometer after kilometer as we skim along very straight roads boarded by mixed, but mainly birch, forests. It is all very pretty despite the muted autumn colours and the background threat of serious rain. That eventually envelopes us as we cross the Mikuni Pass, the highest road(R.273) in Hokkaido. The pass itself […]

11/04/2018 / Last updated : 19/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Notsuke Peninsula and Betsukai-Peat hot spring　野付半島

Day 21, September 2016, We breakfast and pack up as usual. We bid farewell to our Osaka gent but of our young cyclist there is no sign. His tent is tied up tight but, I suspect, it barely contains the raging hangover within. Notsuke Peninsula Leaving the Odaito fureai campsite, we drive a short distance to Notsuke hanto(peninsula) The drive along the peninsula is of some distance before we come to the barrier that is the limit of vehicular traffic. From the car park, we walk along the track with high reeds stretching out on either side. These reeds, for the most part, obscure the pools of brackish water. We […]

18/03/2018 / Last updated : 04/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Coral Grass at Kimuaneppu-Sounkyo Gorge　キムアネップから層雲峡

Day 15, September 2016, Coral grass Up at 6.30 and, after breakfast, we explore the nearby, marshy area that features, at this time of year, the famous red grasses (Coral grass). We see the same elderly watercolourist, who was busy painting the lake where we ate our lunch yesterday. D. envies his talent. Sounkyo Gorge Time to leave the coast for a bit, so we bid farewell to the Sea of Okhotsk and head inland towards the mountains and the famous Sounkyo gorge. We find a campsite in the trees that is fine but, it must be said, has gone somewhat to seed. Having decided our campsite, we drive to […]

27/02/2018 / Last updated : 03/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Wakkanai, Cape Souya the Northern Most Point of Japan　稚内、宗谷岬

Day 11, September 2016 On our way to Wakkanai we visit Cape Noshappu, to say we have been there and there appeared to be no other reason to go. Wakkanai In the fish market of Wakkanai, whole salmon, very large fish were on sale for 3000 or 4000 yen. I was surprised to see street signs in Japanese, English and Russian but apparently there are a lot of Russian fishing boats trading on this coast. We take the opportunity to have a bath in a large onsen (hot spring) by the port. The bath is on the second floor and is busy with families as it is the weekend. ＊ […]

onsen ( hotspring)